Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
I pulled away from Jared to see Cat standing at the stairs of the boardwalk, smiling mouth agape.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“You told me you were walking into certain death. I had to come save you,” she said crossing the planks to join us in front of the bakery.
“What did you tell her?” Jared asked.
“That I was meeting a stranger, because if you recall, I was supposed to be,” I said, giving him a glare.
Cat looked between the two of us trying to figure out what she was missing. “I have been worried to death about you all week. Jared texted me that he was worried about you, and then you wouldn’t even respond.”
“You text with Jared now? The enemy?”
“Wait, am I still the enemy?” he asked.
“Doesn’t look that way to me,” Cat said, wiggling her eyebrows .
“The jury is still out.” But it was a bold-faced lie. The man in front of me was everything I had ever wanted and more. Standing there with Jared, knowing that the same man who danced me through the kitchen, smiled when I was too serious and forced me out of my comfort zone was also the man who listened when I needed to talk, believed in me unwaveringly and always found a way to make me smile made my heart full to bursting. Not to mention he bought me a damn bakery!
“I will leave you two to whatever this is, but I expected a detailed update. Today!” she said, pointing at me.
“Promise,” I said.
“Okay. See you two later. Have fun,” she called over her shoulder with a little wave, making my cheeks burn with embarrassment that she had caught us kissing and would have all kinds of ideas.
I watched Cat walk away as a strange elation filtered through my blood stream. Was any of this real? Of course, the pessimistic part of my brain wanted to question everything, to convince me it wouldn’t last. But then Jared moved closer to my orbit, my thoughts went to him, trapped in the gravity. He held out his hand for me. I took it without a word.
“There’s something I want to show you,” he said as he pushed open the door and led me inside, guiding me to sit in one of the comfy chairs.
As soon as he walked away the doubt crept back in. Yet, I knew Jared, fears, his passions—which apparently included me—his ambitions, his interests. He was unlike any guy I had ever met. And I re alized now, sitting in this bakery, that I had been falling for him since the moment the first message popped up in my notifications and when our lips first touched. I couldn’t possibly say no to whatever he had to offer.
As Jared came back out from the office, the door banged open behind me.
“The Baking Chick?” Joel’s voice echoed through the room. Shit.
“Morning, Joel,” Jared said, unphased.
“What the fuck is going on?”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Jared said.
“Asshole. You know exactly what I mean. Why the hell does the sign say The Baking Chick instead of the Wallace name?”
“Because it’s not a Wallace bakery,” Jared said.
“Of course it is,” Joel said.
“Nope. It’s Jenna’s bakery.”
My head swirled between the two brothers as I tried to make sense of this new development. Did he mean that it was mine because he was forfeiting the competition and planned on letting me be the manager? Or did he mean something more? He had said that he bought the bakery for me, but I assumed he meant for me to work in.
Jared handed Joel a folder. Joel snatched it from his hands and flipped through the paperwork inside.
“You have officially lost your mind. When Dad hears about this, there will be hell to pay. I will be in contact with our lawyer,” Joe l said, practically throwing the folder at his brother.
Jared just laughed as Joel stormed out. “See you around, Joel,” he said. “Arrogant prick,” he said after the door closed behind his brother.
“What is going on?” I asked.
“When I met you in that bakery management class, I had already been looking for my way out of all this,” he said, motioning toward his departed brother. “Dad and Joel had asked me to take the class for reconnaissance to see if we wanted to create our own online learning platform and classes to milk money out of our following. It’s not a terrible idea, but somewhere along the way, I lost my passion. I was going through the motions of everything, cooking and press events alike. Joel and Dad, they are very similar. This whole Wallace empire gives them purpose and defines their worth. They can’t live without it. But I can’t live with it. When I met you, your passion was contagious. You were so clear on what you wanted and so content. You weren’t searching for some grand scheme or power play. It felt like you spoke direct to my soul.”
“Okay, but I still don’t know what just happened between you and Joel,” I said.
“I’m getting there,” he said. “All I wanted is for you to have everything you ever wanted because all I ever wanted was you. Here.” He handed me the folder he had shown to Joel. I opened it up and lifted out the first paper. It was a deed to the bakery .
“What?” I said my hands shook as I held the paper, reading it again and again.
“Take the bakery. Do whatever you want with it. If you will have me, I will be here as your humble grunt,” he said.
My tears skipped right past the tentative pooling in my eyes stage and started streaming down my cheeks. “I can’t.”
“Then you have to sell it,” he said.
“I can’t possibly take this kind of gift from you,” I said. “Or your family. You heard Joel. He is going to get lawyers involved.”
“His lawyers can’t do shit. I used my own money.”
I shook my head.
“Jenna, I have a lot of money. It means nothing,” he shrugged. “I don’t need millions sitting in the bank.” My eyes went wide at millions. “Think of me as your financial backer. Happens all the time in the business.”
“What if I’m not good enough?” I asked, taking a shaky breath.
Jared laughed and looked up at him with daggers in my eyes. “Jenna, you are good enough. I believe in you.”
“I will pay you back. I have some money in savings, and I will make the rest up from sales.”
“You can pay me back by letting me be here with you,” he said.
“Your crazy is showing,” I laughed as the reality of the situation and what Jared had done sunk in. I owned a bakery. I owned this bakery. I looked around with fresh eyes. This place—it was mine. I stood up and started walking around the space, letting my hand run over t he chairs, stools, and counter. I walked behind the counter, studying the pastry case, the espresso machines, the canisters that would be filled with tea, and imagined all the little touches I would add over time to make it mine.
“You approve?” he asked from directly behind me. I turned, started. His hulking form stood over me in the tight space behind the counter.
“I’m sure I’ll find ways to improve it,” I said.
“I’m sure you will,” he said as his eyes darted to my lips.